


(oct. 2016 drabbles)

by natalunasans



Series: Smaller on the Outside [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka
Genre: Domestic, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Other, Robot Feels, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-24 13:32:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8374015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natalunasans/pseuds/natalunasans





	1. rest for the wicked (shalkaverse)

The Master is in a  _ mood _ (days pass without his mocking critiques). 

The Doctor procrastinates: talking is easy, communication much harder. 

One morning they leave their empty bed unmade, find him standing deactivated in his room. Touch his shoulder, nothing. Not set to environmental triggers, then? Slide the remote from his pocket: it’s programmed to reactivate in eighteen... hours? No, days. 

They manage to wait six.

TARDIS kitchen supplies protein substances. Nightmares intensify. Alison seems apprehensive, reluctant to ask them what’s wrong.

Press a button, the Master whirs to life.

“Miss me?” 

The Doctor, half-smiling, eyes watery, only shrugs. 

“Good.”


	2. Wanting (10/S!M, domestic)

The Doctor reaches back and, playful, pulls the Master’s arms around them.

He smiles into the back of their head, their hair tickling his nose; joints pop and clunk as he settles closer to their warmth.

The wide-open part of both minds basks in still-sleepy fondness.

Behind shielding, the Master thinks: _i must never let on; they must feel contentment while it lasts._ He doesn’t consider what’s ‘kind’ or what the Doctor ‘deserves’… only that their happiness is his need.

But what of the Doctor’s shielded mind? Surely theirs conceals as much void and sadness as his masks ulterior motives?


End file.
